Every true artist does feel, consciously or unconsciously, that he is touching transcendental truths; that his images are shadows of things seen through the veil. In other words, the natural mystic does know that there is something there, something behind the clouds or within the trees; but he believes that the pursuit of beauty is the way to find it; that imagination is a sort of incantation that can call it up.

Nothing is so remote from us as the thing which is not old enough to be history and not new enough to be news.

The books that influence the world are those that it has not read.

The one stream of poetry which is continually flowing is slang.

People who make history know nothing about history. You can see that in the sort of history they make.

The truth is that it is our attitude towards children that is right, and our attitude towards grown-up people that is wrong. Our attitude towards our equals in age consists in a servile solemnity, overlying a considerable degree of indifference or disdain. Our attitude towards children consists in a condescending indulgence, overlying an unfathomable respect.

Men rush toward complexity; but yearn for simplicity.